At ExploreGB, the new trade event that brings together British travel suppliers and international buyers, VisitBritain officials reported another record year for tourism in 2014, including new highs of 34.8 million visitors, up 6 percent from the previous year, and 21.7 billion pounds in tourism spending, up 3 percent from the previous year.

Even better, according to VisitBritain Chief Executive Sally Balcombe, Britain is forecasting yet another major increase in tourism for 2015. “The volume of inbound tourism is expected to be up 2.5 percent, and spending is expected to be up by 4.5 percent [in 2015]…which would give us another record year,” she said.

Balcombe said the good tourism numbers also are, in part, a reflection of a positive world perception of her destination as measured by the National Brand Index. She pointed out that Britain came in third overall for tourism, fifth for “visit if money was no object,” third for sport and 20th for natural beauty.

Balcombe also highlighted the value of ExploreGB in helping Britain boost its tourism. This is the first time that VisitBritain has staged the show on its own, and Balcombe said it would continue to hold the event at venues outside London to showcase regional tourism. This year the event was held at Ascot, Feb. 24-26, and delegates stayed at hotels in and around Windsor. Next year VisitBritain will hold ExploreGB in Liverpool.

“First, we wanted to give an opportunity for U.K. [travel] businesses of all sizes to connect with buyers and international travel agents in order to reach new markets,” Balcombe said. “To put the focus on the entire country, the event location will vary each year to gain regional spread. We also showcase Britain to hundreds of international buyers through the fam trip program.” This year VisitBritain planned fam trips for 261 buyers on 13 unique itineraries throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

Balcombe said VisitBritain’s goal is to increase delegate attendance every year until it reaches over 500 buyers and an equal number of British and Irish product suppliers by 2020.

Beyond ExploreGB, Britain also is refocusing its efforts on all fronts to increase tourism. It will continue to promote its GREAT campaign in seven major markets; increase visitors exploring the nations and regions of Britain beyond London; continue to focus on its customers and insure that it provides them with the right content at the right time; redevelop its digital and mobile platforms, which are increasingly tailored to consumers’ individual needs.

Balcombe specifically highlighted VisitBritain’s new and updated websites, both for consumers and the trade, which will debut later this year to provide even more extensive information to visitors and the media. VisitBritain.com also will feature a new self-managed directory of tourism businesses of any size or location as well as a new itinerary building tool.

Balcombe also pointed to this year’s Countryside is Great campaign, an effort to get visitors off the beaten track and focused on rural tourism. That will be followed this fall by a new campaign, Culture is GREAT, which focuses on contemporary British culture and city life, covering the full range of arts, film and TV, performing arts and music. Finally Balcombe highlighted new promotions tied to film and TV, such as the recent “Paddington” movie and the upcoming James Bond film “Spectre,” set to debut in October 2015.

On the event side, Britain will host the Rugby World Cup and the Tour de Yorkshire in 2015, both of which Balcombe said should generate more tourism for the destination. VisitBritain is planning major promotions tied to both events. She also cited the success of Yorkshire’s hosting of the first stage of the Tour de France last year as an example of how tourism can be affected by such sporting events.

On the travel trade side, Balcombe pointed to newly improved BritAgent online destination education program, which will debut at the end of March. The goal of the redeveloped program is to increase interaction, engagement and rewards for the trade. There will be new training models and agents will be rewarded for completing them. Also planned is a new, richer monthly newsletter for the trade with much more content.

With all these new promotional programs, a brand new trade event in ExploreGB, plus new outreach to travel agents and the rest of the industry, it appears Britain is now well positioned to get record tourism numbers in 2015 and beyond.

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